Delhi court sends four accused in Red Fort bomb blast to 10 days NIA custody
As per NIA filings, each of the accused allegedly played distinct role within so-called “white-collar terror module”
A Delhi court on Thursday remanded four accused in the Delhi car explosion (near the Red Fort) to 10 days of custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as investigators expand their probe into the grievous terrorist attack.
The four — Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai of Pulwama, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather of Anantnag, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay of Shopian, and Dr Shaheen Saeed of Lucknow — were formally produced before principal district and sessions judge Anju Bajaj Chandna, who granted the NIA’s request for custodial remand, albeit for 10 rather than the 15 days the agency sought.
According to NIA filings and media reports, each of the accused is alleged to have played a distinct role within a so-called “white-collar terror module” tied to the blast, which on 10 November detonated a car laden with explosives in a high-security zone, killing at least 15 people and injuring many more.
Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai is suspected of coordinating logistics for the attack. Investigators say he rented two rooms in Faridabad, on the outskirts of Delhi, and used them as storage and assembly sites for bomb-making materials. Those sites reportedly contained large quantities of ammonium-nitrate, detonators, timers, and other paraphernalia.
His encrypted communications and travel between the National Capital Region and Kashmir are under scrutiny. He is also reported to have conducted multiple reconnaissance visits to the Red Fort site earlier in the year, according to police sources cited in media reports.
Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather is described by probe agencies as the module’s weapons and logistics coordinator. He allegedly arranged the stockpile of explosives and weapons, and his arrest in November reportedly led to recoveries of a large cache of materials. His disclosure reportedly triggered the wider investigation that uncovered key links to the doctors’ cell.
Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay is believed to have been the ideological recruiter and recruiter of educated youth into extremist networks. According to the NIA, his task was to radicalise professionals and students and channel them into the terror module tied to the attack.
Dr Shaheen Saeed has emerged as a particularly unusual figure in the case. Labelled 'Madam Surgeon' by investigators, she is alleged to have been the fundraiser and women-recruitment lead for the module. WhatsApp messages recovered from her phone reportedly contain coded references: “medicine” appears to have been used in place of explosives in the group’s communications. She is also said to have handled financial flows and facilitated links with women operatives under the banner of the proscribed organisation Jaish‑e‑Mohammed.
During the court proceedings, heavy security was deployed: a contingent from the Rapid Action Force (RAF) guarded the premises alongside Delhi Police personnel, and media access was restricted completely inside the courtroom.
The arrests mark significant progress for the NIA, which has now taken six persons into custody in the case and is working to map out the full chain of command behind the attack. Investigators say the operation near the Red Fort was part of a broader conspiracy with a well-defined division of labour: recruitment, logistics, storage, transport and execution.
As the NIA’s custodial interrogation of the four new accused begins, authorities hope to draw links between the explosives cache, the selection of the target, the car used in the explosion, and the wider network of operatives both in Bihar-Delhi NCR and Jammu & Kashmir.
With PTI and media inputs